Birthday Blues
by Madsheepbaaka
Summary: Its Kakashis birthday, Iruka hasnt the slightest idea what to do.
1. Chapter 1

Har – my first attempt at any kind of creative writing. The last time I attempted to write something was in a free moment during an English lesson about six years ago. This whole thing is more of a test to see where my mind can take me, so none of it, apart from the main theme, is planned.

Disclaimer – not mine. I don't own Naruto. Pfft.

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The day before had been rough, a cold, wet, windy start followed by a less then amenable day at the academy. Due to the awful weather the future shinobi had arrived in dribs and drabs, slowly filling up the classroom, a couple of them looked a little worse for wear and Iruka's carefully planned lesson started to look doomed. The rest of the day wasn't much better, sneezes every couple of minutes punctuated the atmosphere, making teaching hard. By the time the day was out the nin-cum-teacher had managed to get through just over half of what was originally intended, all he wanted to do was go home, soak in a long hot bath then retire to bed. Unfortunately this wasn't to be, Iruka had to man the mission room again, upon arriving it became apparent that there was an awful lot of work to be done and they seemed to be short staffed. Indeed they had been, several of the nins which helped man the position were off on missions or elsewhere detained, adding insult to the injury of teaching interrupting brats Iruka had to pull a double shift. When he arrived home he was totally exhausted, flopping heavily into bed, not even noticing present company and falling straight asleep.

Today seemed much more promising, low shafts of light from the morning September sun permeated the slit left between the two curtains, having not been properly drawn the night before. The mellow beams softly illuminating the bedroom, catching dust particles flitting lazily around in the warm air currents, created by the falling rays.

Iruka shifted slightly, stirring to meet the new day, the dark chuunin had slept like a log, not surprising considering the frightful day he had had previously. Not yet opening his eyes Iruka breathed a long deep lungful of air and exhaled it slowly, attempting to wake up his pleasantly dull senses. He was warm, snugly wrapped up in a silky soft duvet lying in an almost freshly made bed, he could sense the presence of his lover next to him, still sound asleep, breathing slow and constant. Finally acknowledging his surroundings from a sleep fuzzy brain Iruka smiled to himself, glowing with content at his good mood. Deciding now would be a good time, Iruka opened his eyes, quickly shutting them again, the room was brighter then expected, squinting he resumed his previous actions letting his eyes become accustomed to the sun lit room. Iruka then turned slowly over onto his right side, from his previous position on his back, moving to face his lover. His eyes graced over the person beside him soaking up the view like desert parched sponges suddenly thrust into the ocean, the sight was mesmerizing to Iruka, he blushed, grinning like a school girl. Although they had been together for almost a year the sight of a peaceful and sleeping Kakashi never ceased to amaze Umino Iruka, heck the sight of Kakashi at all made Iruka go weak in the knees.

Kakashi was lay on his back, just like Iruka had been a moment before, his mask was off revealing well defined features, the hitai-ate which usually covered his left eye wasn't there either, replaced by a softer much more appropriate version. Iruka had suggested this some time ago, the metal plate of the hitai-ate wasn't really suited to sleeping in at all according to Iruka and he had proposed making some versions of the head protector out of the same oh-so-soft material Kakashi's masks were made from. The result had been more of an eye patch rather then a hitai-ate without metal, the idea was to provide a more comfortable garment for sleeping in, but Kakashi had adopted to wearing the thing all the time when not on a mission. Iruka was most pleased with this as it allowed him more visual access to the beautiful face. This morning though Kakashi was more notably awe inspiring then usual, the light filtering across the room was creating a soft hue around Kakashi and against his pale skin tones made him look almost angelic, it was no surprise then that Iruka was continuing his transformation from slightly pink to a dark shade of rouge, still grinning.

The Chuunin stayed watching the view for what seemed like a small lifetime, in reality it was more like five minutes, but time was not important, Iruka could have stayed engrossed for all eternity. He had refrained from touching the sleeping Jounin, tempting though it was, and let him sleep until he was ready to wake up. Iruka didn't have to wait long however as Kakashi twitched a little in the same way the teacher had done just five minutes before. At this subtle invitation of sorts Iruka took full advantage of the situation and moved closer to the "angelic" sight and deftly planted a light kiss upon the other mans lips, soft and warm. Again Iruka blushed.

"Mmm" Kakashi mumbled deeply from his still sleepy state.

"Good morning" replied Iruka still just a whisper away from Kakashi's face.

Iruka then lent in and provided Kakashi with another latch on reality, this time Kakashi responded slightly pressing back into the soft embrace. Shielded from the sunlight by Iruka's body Kakashi opened his good eye and smiled peacefully up at the beautiful sight that greeted him. Iruka had moved slightly away to let the other man be able to focus on something other then a blur, noticing Kakashi's response he blushed, again.

To Kakashi, Iruka was as beautiful as Kakashi was to Iruka. That dark skin, those dark brown eyes which seemed to go on forever and the long tied back dark brown hair which was now loose, falling delicately surrounding those perfect rose tinged cheeks. In Kakashi's eyes Iruka was cuteness personified and was always capable of catching his usually rock-solid persona totally off guard, simply by eliciting the smallest of smiles, leaving him vulnerable. Normally this would have worried the high level shinobi, anything capable of creating an imbalance in his concentration was a danger to him and to the city he was bound to protect. But strangely enough it seemed to make him more determined towards the safety of Konoha, just knowing what he was protecting inside.

The smile on the pale mans face broadened causing his visible eye to scrunch up in that familiar way. Kakashi then sat up, pulling a pillow behind his head manoeuvring Iruka to sit facing him at arms length. This was one of the reasons Kakashi had to wake up in the morning, so every single day he followed a similar routine of placing Iruka a couple of feet away from him and then just look on in perfect bliss. The Sharingan eye uniquely possessed by the Hatake had scanned over Iruka countless times, memorizing every single last feature of the other mans body. This however didn't compare in the slightest to the real thing, even though the Sharingan was capable of making carbon copies of the original. Iruka had just learned to live with this strange behaviour, although admittedly still slightly perplexed as to why Kakashi did this every single day. After soaking in the view for a few more minutes Kakashi moved, arms out stretched towards Iruka and pulled him into a tight cuddle, wrapping his arms ravishingly around the other mans back, holding them both close, arms slowly moving around feeling the contours the shoulder blades created in Iruka's back. Slowly releasing Iruka, Kakashi moved away dropping a light kiss on his partners nose, this had the usual affect of making Iruka blush yet again.

"Good Morning" Kakashi then replied back, somewhat delayed from Iruka's original greeting.

Both men were totally naked still facing one another on the generously sized bed, getting up Iruka walked over to the door of the bedroom and unhooked a pair of dressing gowns throwing one in Kakashi's general direction, whilst slipping into his own. He then walked out of the bedroom, visited the bathroom and then proceeded towards the kitchen to start breakfast. The apartment the two men dwelled in was nothing special, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and a living area, all furnished to provide a warm welcoming atmosphere. This was important to Iruka as he was always having visitors in one form or another (although mainly comprising of Naruto) wanting anyone to feel at ease in the unfamiliar surroundings. Iruka's feet patted gently against the floor of the kitchen as he moved around, opening various vesicles, the fridge and cupboards to come up with some idea of what to make for breakfast.

"Hey Kakashi" He shouted out in a questioning tone "Wha'dya want for breakfast"

Kakashi had not given this any thought, Iruka usually prepared the first meal of the day and anything the Chuunin produced was always more then acceptable, he usually liked the surprise. Iruka didn't normally ask him anything to do with breakfast, he normally just made something, and it seemed slightly out of character.

"Anything's fine" came back the slightly house muffled response "your cooking's always great".

This put a smile on Iruka's face, but it didn't offer any help as what to make. Returning to the fridge he had a second look around and noticed a few things he had not before. Fry up was decided upon at noticing the sausages, Iruka then quickly turned to the other cupboards in the room producing pots and pans and placing them in their respectful places. After a few minutes the apartment was filled with enticing smells wafting about reaching Kakashi as he was making his way towards the kitchen. He sidled into the room in his usual lazy manner drifting towards a still cooking Iruka, wrapping his arms around the other mans waist fusing the two together.

"Mmm, something smells good" he spoke out nuzzling his face into the smaller mans neck.

"It's nearly ready, all that's left are the eggs and they will only take a couple of minutes. Would you mind setting the table please?" replied a whisking Iruka.

"Grrmrmm" responded Kakashi as he reluctantly released his hold, doing as instructed.

After a few minutes, and several attempts from Kakashi at distracting Iruka they were both seated at the table opposite each other with two plates of steaming food in front of them.

"Itadekimasu!" Iruka said cheerily just after he sat down.

Both smiled at each other then began to devour the small feast before them. As predicted earlier by Kakashi, Iruka was distracted, a few days from now the older man was going to become just that little bit older by a calendar year and Iruka still hadn't managed to work out what to get. It was driving him crazy. Why was it so hard to decide, or even come up with any ideas Iruka thought, that would be good enough? They had known each other for a couple of years now before they had been lovers, yet he still didn't have a clue what to get. Of course Iruka knew precisely why it was being such a difficult task, he obviously couldn't just buy some standard boring present reserved for friends to show you appreciated one another, nevertheless it was still harder then expected. It was Kakashi's first birthday since they had been together, almost their one-year anniversary too and Iruka wanted it to be special. Iruka was lost in thought and hadn't noticed Kakashi calling his name.

"Iruka" - no response.

"Iruka" - again nothing.

"Hey Iruka" Kakashi repeated a third time in a slightly raised tone of voice

"Huh? What?" the slightly lost man replied, confused as to the nature of Kakashi's

outburst.

"Something interesting going on inside that head of yours you're not telling me about?" Kakashi playfully responded to his partner's obviously befuddled reply.

"Oh erm..No not really" Iruka said half stuttering and blushing hard, realizing he'd zoned out for a minute feeling terribly embarrassed due to the reason why.

Kakashi got up from his seated position, untangling his feet from Iruka's, which had somehow managed to get locked together without either of them playing any conscious effort to do so. He picked up both now empty plates and placed them along with the other crockery into the sink, switching on the water for a few seconds, allowing them to soak.

"As I was going to say" Kakashi chimed in, making sure he got Iruka's attention this time. "I've got to meet up with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura this morning, after yesterdays training I wanted to meet up with them to get in some further practice".

He had been teaching his apprentices how to mould Chakra around a shurikan prior to launching it, giving it extra speed as it exited the hand, whilst also providing a degree of control to its direction, mid-flight, from the energy placed within the weapon. This had not been as easy for them to grasp as he had originally intended, but on thinking it through realised he was expecting a little too much from them. It was a fairly dangerous exercise, requiring absolute control of ones Chakra, if done incorrectly the shurikan could swerve off course and then explode. The ball of chakra placed in the weapon had to be perfectly stable otherwise the outcome could be impeding rather then beneficial. If trained enough the chakra infused within the weapon could be maintained until contact and then used to inflict a small localized wound in the opponent, usually this wasn't major but it did cause significantly more pain, hopefully giving you more time to prepare your next move. It was a technique worth knowing. Sakura as expected had managed to get the basis of the technique sorted within a few minutes, but due to her limited chakra had trouble maintaining the control over a long distance, loosing any authority over the shurikan when it became more then few feet away from her. Naruto was the exact opposite, he could fling the weapon out and control (if that was the right word) it far better then Sakura could. However Naruto's precision at this was distinctly lacking, he could throw the weapon, accelerate it to enormous speed and make it explode on contact, but his aim was terrible. Sasuke had faired much better then the other two, he could maintain control over a reasonable distance, whilst increasing the speed of the weapon, but he couldn't manage to create any kind of explosion on impact. They still needed more work with this and to get the most out of it, Kakashi needed to be present.

"Oh, Ok" Iruka replied, still half distracted. "When do you think you will be back?"

"Hard to say, it all depends on how well the three improve. But I should be back before dinner"

Iruka nodded in response and Kakashi waltzed out of the kitchen towards the bathroom. He turned on the shower letting the water run for a few minutes till the temperature stabilized before finally adjusting it to comfort, removing his dressing gown and stepping in. Firstly placing his head under the stream of warmth getting his hair soaked through. This caused the normally silver locks to turn a far deeper shade of grey then you would have thought from looking at his hair, then changing position to allow the water to skim over him warming his body. Kakashi let out a long sigh, what was bothering his little Ruka so much? It wasn't normal behaviour for the darker man and it slightly worried him. Kakashi decided to leave the issue alone for now, it could just be some simple thing that only would have worried Iruka and would blow over in a couple of days. He washed himself thoroughly, switched off the running water and stepped out of the shower, towelling himself down before moving into the bedroom, towel about his waist.

Iruka had moved from the kitchen to the bedroom after having washed up the crockery used at breakfast, still lost in torment. He sat himself down on the bed and continued to think hard about suitable offerings he could make, one idea followed another, pushed away by another. Nope he concluded, those wont do. He had intended to get a shower himself but realizing it was still occupied waited patiently in their room. Kakashi emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, hair and body half towelled try with the same said towel tied about his waist. Iruka loved this look and just watched attentively as Kakashi worried the closet that housed their clothes.

"Bathrooms free" the pale man spoke breaking the interlude.

"I can see that" A happy Iruka responded, still admiring the view of his lover dressing himself, although still with an element of a troubled mind in his voice.

Kakashi decided Iruka wasn't going anywhere for the time being and finished dressing himself, ending with his normal hitai-ate, retrieved from his beside table, sitting the protector in its usual lopsided position covering up the Sharingan. He quickly glanced at his reflection in the nearby mirror, nope he hadn't forgotten anything. A few months ago Kakashi had forgotten a scroll and had returned home to collect it. Iruka had surprisingly been at home too, as soon as he had stepped through the door, Iruka had pounced, ripping away his facemask as they fought in a passionate kiss for a few minutes before being released. Iruka just smiled behind pink cheeks and strolled out of the door. Kakashi had then found the forgotten item, pocketed it and left the house, the woman across the street just stopped and stared open mouthed, the pale man then realized what was wrong, quickly going back inside he looked in the mirror and there it was, his face in all its glory, in his haste he had not remembered to put his mask back on. Vowing never to let this happen again, Kakashi now regularly checked his appearance, just making sure it was still there.

Happy now he was set to meet team seven, he turned around to face Iruka, who was still sitting there slumped over looking very quiet. Kakashi walked in close, crouched down till his eyes met Iruka's and pushed him back onto the bed, forcing Iruka down onto his back with a small bounce. The action had caused Iuka's dressing gown to loosen around his body, revealing most of his chest and stomach, whether or not this was Kakashi's intention would never be known but he took full advantage anyway. Standing up and then lowering himself over Iruka (whilst lowering the mask) he began to place small wet kisses along the dark skin, moving his way up from the mans navel. He stopped mid chest, darting to the left, then to the right, gently nipping on Iruka's now somewhat sensitised nipples, producing small moans from his now less distracted lover. Resuming his work Kakashi continued along the remainder of Iruka's upper body sliding a moist tongue up and over his neck and chin slowing as he reached expectant lips. Toying slightly he danced his tongue over the swelling flesh, teasing the man below, it had the desired effect. Iruka flung his arms around Kamahi's neck and pulled the rascal in, whilst simultaneously flipping them both over, positions reversed. Iruka now in control of a surprised Kakashi let loose a small chuckle with a grin upon his face, lips still locked. The kiss became more frantic as tongues threatened to tie themselves into knots, skin becoming flushed and damp with sweat. Before anything else could develop Kakashi, now back on top he realized, pulled himself away, both catching their breath.

"I'll be back later" he said breathlessly arranging one last kiss on the bridge of Iruka's nose where the scar bisected his face.

The pale man was then gone, checking his face in the mirror once more before soaring out of the bedroom window to the street below. Iruka just lay there distracted, but for an entirely different set of reasons, his mind still catching up to what had just happened.

Kakashi landed with a silent thump down in the street below, wondering as he walked whether or not his plan had worked, if it had succeeded or failed didn't really matter, the pale man had enjoyed himself nonetheless.


	2. Chapter 2

Iruka lay there, atop bed incarnadine. Kakashi's plan to divert the Chuunin's attention had partly been a success. It had certainly stymied the worrying train of thought seemingly galvanized to the poor mans brain, but had also served to bring the bothersome thought process back, with even more zeal then it had before. Although a good distraction, plastering the reason for the apprehension all over the Chuunin's body wasn't quite the best way to reduce the turmoil, more it caused Iruka to realize how much he loved the silver haired fool making him even more concerned should everything not work itself out.

"Gaaah Kakashi" Iruka announced to the bedroom "Look what you've turned me into".

Collecting together ragged thoughts the dark man picked himself off the bed, showered quickly, got dressed and exited the apartment. It was Saturday meaning he wasn't needed at the academy, although technically his day off Iruka was still set to accompany Tsunade in her office. Having around one hour to kill before hand, he decided to window shop along the small plaza Konoha had to offer. Although not having any success of his own, perhaps something would catch his eye suitable for his other half. Nothing did.

Almost exactly one hour later a disgruntled Iruka arrived at the doors to the Hokage's office, stopping for a second to compose himself before pressing the heavy panels aside then stepping in. Tsunade sat behind a large antique, its surface reflecting her deceptive image almost perfectly back to the rest of the spacious room. Mountains of paper work surrounded her - someone had been slacking again. It was no secret the fifth Hokage's preferred activities were not even closely related to filling out the tiresome admin work accompanying the title (although she had acquired a unique ability to fill out IOUs in a blindingly short space of time). The Sannin had been caught on a number of occasions sneaking gulps of sake from a hipflask and more then once found head down, drooling onto some form that should have been completed days before. People often wondered why Shizune hadn't taken the coveted title and simply left Tsunade the more interesting parts of the job, seeming far more efficient in the tasks Tsunade loathed to even think about. Well Shizune wasn't Hokage and Konoha had to make do with what it had, even if it did mean helping the head of the village every now and then with items she had left unattended for far too long. Judging by the look on Tsunade's face as Iruka entered, it was going to be a long day.

"Good morning Tsunade-sama." 

"Yes, yes good morning Iruka" a look of relief seemed to wash over the Fifth's face. "We don't have a moment to lose!"

Genma and Raido positioned at some filing cabinets, dangerously close to one another, both looked over at Iruka and drew fingers across their necks imitating decapitation, Genma mouthing 'Get out, whilst you can'. Well it was too late for that now he thought pulling a face, raising his hands and shaking his head in a gesture simulating 'well what am I supposed to do now eh?' Conversation over Iruka moved around behind the desk and sat down next to Tsunade. Some of the papers were backdated up to two months ago, sighing he picked up a handful and started to work.

The task was boring. Totally, utterly, mind-numbingly. Boring. Iruka wished he had taken the warning Genma had given and made up some excuse to leave.

You see a Hokage gets an awful lot of paper work, most of it simple administrative stuff, a signature here a signature there, stamps off approval, so on and so forth, this only the Hokage could accomplish. The rest comprised of the official documentation that accompanied the missions brought in from the various towns and villages surrounding Konoha, Iruka was left with these. Any normal person would do the sensible thing and fill in the forms at the same time a mission was completed. Not Tsunade. Before being filed, missions required two things: the first was the standard mission report that Iruka was used to dealing with, the second was the original documentation outlining the mission details, usually provided by the town requesting assistance. The two needed to be stamped, signed and dated, then bound together upon completion of the mission. Officially they needed the Hokage's touch, but this could be wavered in trying times should their time be needed elsewhere (these were not trying times, but Iruka thought it safer to not make an issue about it). This wasn't all that hard and required only minimal cognitive effort, but for one simple matter. Iruka had only one pile of documents, the aforementioned second type, the mission reports he had to find. Said documents were all bunched up haphazardly together, in no noticeable order in a box under the desk Tsunade occupied. It was clear the old hag just dumped them there when she couldn't be bothered, which appeared to be all the damned time, although the task did serve to preoccupy Iruka quite well, his mind well away from what plagued it earlier.

Gemna and Raido would periodically leave the room and return ten to fifteen minutes later, hauling with them cardboard boxes of the storage variety, designed to be flat-packed when not needed. Inside were documents of some sort that the two removed and relocated to the draws of the filing cabinets. During one of their absences the Fifth spoke breaking the silence that had surrounded them for almost two hours.

"So Iruka, how are you and Kakashi getting on?" her voice sweet and playful.

This was an obvious attempt at small talk; during the past half hour Tsunade had tried starting something of a conversation by placing little 'hmms' and 'oohs' into the quiet room, trying to coax something out of anyone who would entertain her. Iruka, Raido and Genma knew better. Tsunade usually started by shifting around in her seat looking around the room as if something was wrong, or something had sparked her interest. If this failed she added in little noises to the gestures in case anyone hadn't noticed her 'play' to attract attention. All of this failing she just spoke out, not knowing Iruka terribly well the Sannin chose a topic she thought would be a welcome one.

"Oh erm, well I suppose," replied Iruka, everything rushing back to him.

"That's.. good.." Tsunade answered back slowly, stumped at having not been given anything to work with. A few seconds later she spoke again.

"Ahh now I remember, its Kakashi's birthday in a couple of days isn't it? I hope you have everything planned, I don't want my best shinobi coming to work the following day in a foul mood. Especially considering his reaction last time to the party Anko and Kurenai threw after he was voted sexiest Jounin of 2001."

Iruka didn't respond, pretending to be far more interested in the work he was supposed to be doing.

"Don't tell me you have left everything to the last minute?"

Iruka groaned.

"Well it's not that Hokage-sama, its more a question of.."

He was interrupted as Genma and Raido entered the room, much earlier then either he or Tsunade expected.

"There are no more boxes left in the storage room, is there anything else you would like assistance with?" asked Raido with a look of hopefulness on his face, wanting more then anything to finish.

"Actually now that you should ask" both men slumped noticeably at this "I think there were some more boxes stored over in one of the unused classrooms, I think it was 203, at the academy".

Both men grumbling to one another, turned and started towards the door, just before they were about to exit the Hokage spoke again.

"I would like you to move them from the academy to the store room here, after that you are free to go."

The pair brightened at this and scampered away. She did love toying with her subordinates at times like this, letting out a small cackle and turning to Iruka again.

"Now where were we, oh yes, you were going to tell me what you have planned for Kakashi."

Not feeling much like playing games, Iruka just explained it as it was, the other woman taking on a much more serious air. The two of them began to talk about the predicament they both found themselves in, Tsunade certainly didn't want an irritable Kakashi and decided to help the Chuunin.

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A frantic commotion erupted from a tree, a cloud of sparrows flapping wildly to escape the cacophony that had turned their peaceful perch amongst the aging leaves, into a war zone. The birds thinking they were safe made another jump in direction a moment later, when startled again by yet another unpleasant noise.

"Yatta!" out burst Naruto with as much force as the explosion a moment before.

"Kaka sensei! Kaka sensei!" beamed the blonde "Look I managed to hit the target!"

"Baka" shouted Sakura.

"It was the wrong target" followed one Sasuke.

"WHAT?" belted Naruto, again far too loudly.

Sakura and Sasuke both clamped their hands over their ears, Kakashi a small distance away laughing to himself at the scene before him.

"Look," pointed out Sakura, wide eyed, gesturing towards another tree.

This tree was dead, this tree had been dead a while, this tree didn't have any leaves, this tree actually didn't even have any branches either. This tree had in fact been taken off to a lumber mill some time before and processed. This tree was a cylinder of wood, two feet wide by eight feet tall, standing there proudly, unscathed almost looking smug, well as smug as an inanimate object could.

"You mean I."

"Yes" both Sasuke and Sakura said together.

"I thought I'd done it that time"

"Clearly" Sasuke mocked, bringing his hands above his head in a cheer, lips forming the five-letter word which had caused the birds some misery moments before.

"Bastard" snarled Naruto diving towards the Uchiha, the two tussling around in a very uncouth manner.

Kakashi had started to make his way over prior to this, anticipating such an outcome.

"Now, now ladies, scrapping around and acting like Neanderthals isn't going to improve your charged shurikan technique at all."

"That's right. How either of you expect to find a suitable partner is beyond me" chided Sakura.

The squabble broke apart.

"I suggest we have a break for a few minutes before resuming training"

A blanket was produced from the pack Kakashi was carrying, griped tightly by two corners, thrust up and out from the mans body, the fabric spreading like the wings of a newly born butterfly, landing silently down on the ground. The team brought out earlier prepared food and sat down to eat, each meal comprised of rice-balls, only the different sauces separating them. Kakashi had so far not given a word of advice to his underlings, seeing how far they would get left to their own devices, not very far was the obvious conclusion.

"So how do you think you are all doing?" quizzed Kakashi, Sakura choosing to speak first.

"I don't really know, no matter how hard I try, I cannot maintain any control beyond a few feet. Sasuke is far better at this yet I cannot work out why, even Naruto can maintain a hold of his shurikan right up to impact."

"How about you then?" now directed towards the foxy-featured boy.

"I think you can see how my efforts are going Kaka sensei, all I do is scare the wildlife and I have hardly any ability to control direction."

"Sasuke?"

"I don't get it either" was simply said before the boy placed another rice-ball into his mouth.

All of them really did look stumped, Kakashi decided it would be more productive this time to simply instruct, rather then make them figure it out on their own. It would be dark before they got it and he really didn't want to be late home, it could get quite cold this time of year on a clear day like this one. Images entered the mans mind of warm dark hands fussing over chilly pale skin, complaining about how you shouldn't spend long outside without proper clothing, a small smile crept upon his face before remembering what he was about to say.

"The answer is in the amount of Chakra stored within the weapon, before you throw it" the silver topped man said before swallowing a mouthful.

"As is usual when learning this skill the latent supply of chakra within the ninja is apparent during the first few attempts. Some seeming to understand the skill and getting it right almost immediately, others showing severe signs of lacking."

"Sakura" the Jounin turning to face the pink haired girl "you have very little control past a few feet, you also have a very limited supply of chakra to draw upon."

"Sasuke" head turning once more "you're slightly better then Sakura, having control to impact but no detonation, the chakra within you is also larger then Sakura's."

"And Naruto" the silver locks moving one final time "you have apparently the least success, your ability being more dangerous then anything else, also you posses the largest amount of chakra by a considerable margin."

"If left uncontrolled the size the initial ball of chakra takes within the centre of the weapon is linked directly to the users inner supply. This size is also proportional to the distance control is required from the weapon. Throw the weapon a short distance, use a small amount of chakra, want to hit a target further away, use more. As the targets we have been using are at roughly the same distance none of you have dealt with something closer or further away."

"Kaka sensei" interrupted Naruto "then why haven't I managed much success?"

"Simply because you infuse so much chakra it becomes unstable and impossible to control."

"Oh" he replied quietly.

"As I was saying, the amount of chakra placed within the weapon is important to the distance you want to throw it. Those who get the skill right away don't really understand it at all, its just pure luck the targets set for them were the correct distance away to correspond with their own innate supply of chakra, when trying obstacles further away they run into difficulties. While it is true you can hit objects close to you using more then the required chakra, it is ill advised, you will never know how long you have to fight for and conserving your energy is very important."

All three trainees looked deep in thought having been given something new to digest. The food was quickly finished up after the lecture, all four tidying away the now empty containers, Kakashi refolding the blanket and putting it back into his pack before speaking.

"Now that you have had a few minutes to think, go have another try and see if you can do better this time."

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As the day went on, staccato thumps could be heard every minute or so from the training grounds just outside the walls surrounding Konoha. Anyone nearby would have also spotted the pleased look on three young faces and the satisfied one on an older figure leaning leisurely against a tree. The daylight fading even more caused the party to cease their actions and wander slowly towards the hidden village, tired limbs carrying them on, one member splitting off every now and again heading for home, Naruto being the last, leaving Kakashi alone for the last leg to the apartment he and Iruka shared. Speaking of the Chuunin, he too had finished up just as the last rays of sunlight had disappeared behind the horizon, saying his farewells to Tsunade and starting back towards his abode, waving lazily to certain folk along the way. It was then by shear coincidence that two shadowy figures both happened to arrive almost together at the door to their shared accommodation.

"Hello you" the older of the two said, voice saturated completely with adoration towards the other.

Both moving closer ready for the imminent embrace, arms closing around each other seconds later, locking their bodies together.

"Hmm, have we met before?" asked the younger man playfully, both now with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

The older man now lowering something from about his face, the two pressing in gently to form a kiss. Each man loosing himself placidly to the moment, the perfect ending to a tiresome day, forgetting all about it for a short while. A few moments later lips parted, foreheads resting against each other, noses twitching to light contact.

"Shall we?" offered the dark man, hand momentarily leaving the others side, hailing towards the apartment door.

"Well why not,"

The two breaking apart before moving inside.

Later that evening both supped a meal of instant ramen not wanting to fuss over anything more complicated, after which spending a few moments entwined on the living room couch watching some game show neither were particularly interested in. When the program ended they headed towards the bedroom entirely ready for some much needed shut eye, using the bathroom facilities before reaching the room, clothes then removed from weary bodies prior to letting out grateful sighs upon hitting soft blankets.

"Oh by the way" produced Iruka, the first words for many a minute.

"Hmmm?" questioned Kakashi.

"Tsunade has a mission planned for you tomorrow morning, she expects you there by at least eight, don't be late."

"I'm never late for missions" shot back the pale man sounding _almost_ hurt.

Iruka just smiling in response.

The two men then began drifting towards the land of nod, Kakashi thinking to himself as he let go, 'hmm Iruka doesn't seem troubled anymore, well that's good'.


	3. Chapter 3

Kakashi woke before Iruka, his inner clock stirring him before any alarm went off. This was the usual manner the pair operated under during morning missions, Kakashi had never needed to set a clock which was thankful because it prevented Iruka from being disturbed needlessly before work. Although today Sunday and teaching not being part of the schedule there was still no point in waking the sleeping Chuunin.

Today however Kakashi would have liked nothing more then to rouse the conked out man and release some of the tension he'd built up during night. Many clones of his beloved in a whole number of sultry positions, each playing for his attention, left the man feeling rather horny. (Un)fortunately any traces of the night's fantasy were quickly repelled upon entering Tsunade's office.

"Good Morning" Kakashi started to say, but before completing the greeting it had shifted to more of a scream, Tsunade replying in a similar manner.

"GYAAHHHH" she barked, hands quickly going through a sequence of seals.

The figure that had greeted Kakashi was no other then the true to life version of Tsunade obaa-chan, it was not the most soothing of sights and had understandably sobered Kakashi's mind.

Two ANBU suddenly appeared having heard the Fifth scream, teleporting to her rescue, not that there's much a Hokage should really need rescuing from, but nevertheless it was their duty.

"Tsunade sama, is everything Ok?" came a slightly muffled voice from behind a porcelain mask.

"I, oh, erm, we." she stammered out, still trying to retrieve her shattered mind.

"A mouse appeared just as I entered the room and it gave us both a fright." helped Kakashi, Tsunade still at a loss for words.

If the masks had not been present, you would have seen the two ANBU looking a little dubious and raising an eyebrow to one another, which you may think strange, as neither ANBU could see each other's face.

"Tsunade sama?" asked the other ANBU disbelievingly.

Tsunade nodded, head jittering up and down before coughing and regaining enough composure to speak.

"Mmm." she swallowed, "Yes everything is fine."

"As you wish." Both ANBU replied curtly, lightly bowing before teleporting away in a cloud of smoke.

"Good morning Tsunade sama." Kakashi spoke out before the dust could settle, am attempt to make light of the situation that had just occurred.

"Oh, Good morning Hatake, I would appreciate it if what you saw today didn't leave this room."

"Pardon me ma'am but I wasn't aware anything had happened." he paused for a second, "Iruka informed me I was needed for a mission."

Recognition swept across the Sannin's face as she began returning to normal, beckoning Kakashi closer and handing him a scroll.

"It's a simple B class delivery mission to one of the towns at our south, they want some information regarding Rain's judicial system, apparently a spy was apprehended trying to assassinate the Feudal lord. Either way they wish to proceed with caution and adhere to any wishes Rain may have during such an incident."

Tsunade folded her arms loosely, pleased that she had managed to speak with any sort of coherence.

"Is there any reason you are giving this mission to me? Surely a chuunin would be more suitable."

"The mission may only be class B, but the information is to be delivered today which adds in complications. Usual travelling time would be just over two days there, two days back, unfortunately we don't have the luxury of time and they are paying well, I wish you good speed Kakashi."

The pale man nodded, bowing slightly then loped out of the room.

What Tsunade had neglected to tell him was that she had in fact been in possession of the mission for almost a week, but had lost it under a pile of medical journals, only relocating it the day before. Well to tell you the truth Iruka had found the scroll, but to Tsunade that was neither here nor there.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRRRRP! BRRRRP! BRRRRP!

A tanned arm shot out from beneath warm blankets, attempting to switch off the damned noise that had rudely awoken it from a peaceful sleep. The clock was not where it should have been causing a tanned hand, attached to the tanned arm to go smashing into said clock driving it up to become airborne. The aim was perfect, the ticking contraption following a graceful arc and passing through an open window, landing with a clang below.

Iruka realized what he had done, groaned, then forgot about it, simply satisfied the rotten thing had shut up, after which moving over to cuddle up to something warm. Something warm wasn't there as he quickly noticed, hands meeting cold sheets and something else which rustled in his fingers, 'a piece of paper?' he thought and pulled himself up against the head board, opening eyes along the way.

_Iruka,_

_Damn that woman giving me such annoying missions, should be back sometime tomorrow everything going well._

_Yours always, _

_Kakashi._

'That's right, he's on a mission' thought Iruka before climbing out of bed and moving over to the window. Squinting to the street below a small object (or maybe that should read several small objects) could be seen looking very different to how they had done earlier. 'We need a new alarm clock' went through the Chuunin's mind as he turned away from the broken device, seeking out some breakfast.

Just as he sat down to eat, an exuberant knocking came from the front door, Iruka had a pretty good idea who the knocks belonged to and sighed.

"Can't even get breakfast in peace." He denounced.

Iruka opened the door to find a bustle of blonde standing there, hand clenched into a fist ready to apply another series of raps, yawning he motioned towards the boy, gesturing for him to come in.

"Iruka sensei, I found this outside and wondered if it belonged to you?"

In Naruto's other hand could be found the remains of the clock that had met its demise earlier on.

"Hmm, well it used to belong to me, however I don't think it's of use to anyone at the moment." Iruka rounded the corner back into the kitchen.

"Naruto, don't forget to put the wood in the hole."

"W w what did you say?" came a confused reply.

"The door Naruto, I don't see why there is any reason for me to be sat in a draft."

"Oh the door."

SLAM

SHUDDER

'Did he really have to use so much force this early on in the day?' Iruka thought spooning a heap of oats into his mouth.

Naruto joined him at the table placing the clock's remains to rest in the bin along the way. The blonde then started to look very interested in what Iruka was eating, eyes following each manoeuvre as the spoon scooped up another mound and directed it towards the expectant mouth. Iruka pretended not to notice.

"Hmmm what is that Iruka sensei?"

"What is what?" asked Iruka through a mouthful, again pretending he'd been oblivious to Naruto's eye balling.

"That food you're eating, the cereal."

"Oh that, its something Kakashi gets, claims its some sort of super breakfast. Would you like to try some?"

"Err, no thanks sensei it looks too much like the rabbit food Sakura-chan feeds to Millie."

"Sakura has a rabbit?" Iruka asked somewhat surprised.

"Haha no Millie is a hedgehog, she has been showing up almost every night outside Sakura's house, Sakura felt sorry for it, so decided to feed it."

"Hmm wouldn't a hedgehog prefer dog or cat food?" quizzed Iruka between bites.

"That's what Sasuke said when Sakura was explaining to us about Millie. Apparently when Sakura is on a diet, so is any wildlife she chooses to feed."

Iruka laughed. 'Typical'.

"Well Naruto" started Iruka, swallowing the last of his rabbit food. "I'm going to get showered and dressed now, then head out to do a bit of shopping, don't you have any training to do or something?"

"Ah no, Kaka-sensei gave us the day off, I could go shopping with you if you like." He offered helpfully.

"That's not needed, but you can come if you really want to. Just wait down here and I'll be ready in a few minutes, help your self to any of the drinks in the fridge and I think there were some biscuits in the tin too. Try not to eat too many."

With that Iruka left the room.

Four glasses of milk, one of something called Squnch and a rather large amount of chocolate chip cookies later, found Iruka back in the kitchen and ready to leave. He had stood outside the kitchen for a good minute or two marvelling in the gluttony of the Genie, how anyone could devour a biscuit in a single mouthful with only a couple of chomps was beyond him, yet Naruto managed to do it with ease, one biscuit after another, followed by another. He only stopped eating, grinning impishly when Iruka coughed behind him, one had to wonder if that stomach was at anytime content and would Naruto have ever ceased eating should the supply have been everlasting.

"Hey Iruka sensei, very nice biscuits you got here." Chomp chomp, swallow. "But you're going to have to buy some more, these ones are nearly gone, good thing we're going shopping."

Iruka hadn't planned to visit the supermarket today, everything was well stocked, but on noticing the almost empty milk carton he decided that a small visit would probably be best. After all, he had told Naruto to help himself, also knowing full well what that meant, he only had himself to blame.

"Okay then." He said cheerily "Lets get going."

The pair of them strolled around Konoha, popping into various shops as they went. First Iruka replaced the items Naruto had engulfed, then went on to buy a few blank scrolls and some other stationary equipment, finally ending up where they both stood now. The place was called Electrical Elation, a slightly odd name but if you knew the owner you would understand, she was the microchip worlds' version of Gai. If you gave her half a moment it was too late, you'd be roped into an explanation of how the newest gadget in the store operated, everyone was sure the information they received was fascinating, it was just no one actually understood any of it. Unfortunately this didn't seem to bother her, no matter how dumbfounded the recipient looked the woman still twittered on. Iruka had never dealt directly with the fiend and certainly had no intention of starting a new tradition today, after all he had put up with Naruto for the better part of the morning and didn't want any extra bother. So it was with a clear conscience, well clean enough (if scrutinized "fine tooth combs a blazin'" someone would probably say 'you missed a spot') that Iruka gave the aforementioned Genin a direct order to go and speak with the shops proprietor. Naruto had started to ask 'why?', or 'what should I talk about?', but was cut short when given a rather firm push in the right direction, Iruka disappearing into another shopping aisle.

Said aisle was labelled 'Chrono keepsakes and other Temporal fixations' and if not for the symbol of a clock in close proximity to the writing many people might have wondered if they had accidentally wandered into a sci-fi convention, even having looked at the clocks some might have still been left wondering. The selection was immense; small clocks, large clocks, digital clocks, analogue 'ticking' clocks, alarm clocks, clocks which threw out a projection of the time onto a nearby wall, glow in the dark clocks and various others which seemed closer to miniature weather stations then actual clocks, even if they did possess a time piece.

After browsing for a good few minutes Iruka decided he really did not want a clock with an annoying alarm to it, there was a small selection in the alarm clock sector which comprised of musical alarm clocks, these he thought would be much better. One in particular caught his eye, a rather modern design, long and slender standing on a circular base, all clad in brushed aluminium, a central window displaying the time in large digits, perfect for legibility in the early hours of the morning when light was scarce. Most importantly however was the fact it came with eight different tunes it could wake you up to.

Picking a boxed version off the shelf he headed for one of the checkouts, glancing over at Naruto to see how he was doing. The boy was slumped against a wall staring at the floor, nodding every now and again, trying to feign some sort of interest, it didn't look very convincing, not that it mattered. The other participant in this almost one sided conversation was holding up some object which looked for all intentions like a pocket calculator, hardly even aware of Naruto's presence. Iruka decided this wasn't the time to start feeling guilty and placed the box on the counter.

"Blip." sounded the machine as the barcode affixed to the box was skimmed by.

"That'll be 5000 yen." came a voice no different in intonation to the barcode reader.

The clerk sat there looking about as dynamic as a bucket of mud, staring blankly at the LCD display in front of him. Upon uttering the price his hand moved mechanically out towards Iruka, eyes never leaving their transfixed position. Iruka placed his credit card into the outstretched hand, the hand then moved in and guided the magnetic strip (no chip and pin in Konoha yet!) with practiced ease through the slot in the till. A few seconds later the till whirred into action producing a receipt that was handed back, along with the card and a pen.

"Check and sign." were the only words given.

Iruka signed in the correct box and handed it back to the clerk.

"Is everything OK?" he asked, concerned for the well being of the assistant.

The man merely pointed, an outstretched digit simply indicating the stores owner.

"Oh, I see." replied Iruka.

The box was then placed into a shopping bag and handed back to Iruka, the clerk droning one final line.

"Please come again."

'Not likely' thought Iruka, 'this place is weird and depressing.'

"Come on Naruto!" he called out. "We're leaving."

Naruto looked up to face Iruka, eyes glazed over in much the same way the clerks had been. He simply walked slowly, quietly, towards Iruka both moving out of the shop side by side.

"Ramen." dictated Naruto, still not having blinked.

"Pardon?" questioned Iruka.

"You owe me ramen, lots of it. Whenever I want it, which happens to be now. You're buying me Ramen."

Not another word was spoken, the blonde just turned to face the direction of his favourite restaurant and plodded on, vowing never to help Iruka shop again. The Chuunin just followed, now he was feeling guilty.

--------------------------------------------------------

Daylight had already started to fade as Kakashi arrived at the towns' outskirts, leaning against a tree he panted heavily catching his breath. He had been running just over his aerobic limit the entire day, using chakra to bolster his movement, his body was spent but at least he had arrived in time. Having rested for a few minutes the pale man followed signs towards the feudal lords mansion, not that any were really necessary, the estate stood out rather well, built raised above the rest of the town.

Getting closer he noticed the number of guards in the area surrounding the house was surprisingly high, even given the circumstances. Normally there would be two men placed at the entrance, two or three patrolling and a lookout somewhere up high, at the moment there were easily five times the number of men posted about. 'The attack must have really shaken things up' Kakashi thought to himself as he ambled up the loose stones that formed the pathway to the front door. Taking in all his surroundings he couldn't help but try and plan a way into the house should his job now be assassination, he didn't find it very comforting to come up fairly empty handed, at least not if he wanted to survive.

"Oi you." Came one of the guard's voices.

"Mmm?" replied Kakashi with a question.

"What you doin' 'ere, these grounds are off limits."

"I'm a ninja from Konoha, I've got some information to deliver to the Feudal lord." He explained, patting the pouch the scroll was placed in.

"Hmmph." The guard snorted gruffly. "You better leave that with me, no one is allowed into the mansion at this time, especially not people like you. How are we supposed to know you ain't a spy?"

Kakashi thought this one over for a minute, before accepting the guard's terms and handed him the scroll. True, the mission was to deliver the scroll to the Feudal lord, which usually meant in person, but given the content he didn't think it worth the bother of heightening the already tense atmosphere by demanding an audience with the man. After all, if the guard wasn't on the level, information on Rains' law wouldn't really avail him of anything.

"Just make sure you deliver the scroll quickly." Kakashi told the guard. "I'm already late as it is."

"Ohh? And who's faults that then?" spoke the guard defiantly, trying to get a rise.

'One with a temper we have here.' Thought Kakashi as he strolled back along the path he'd just taken. 'Either that or everyone round here is REALLY bored, perhaps I should have offered him Icha Icha.'

By now there were no traces of daylight left, leaving a velvet backdrop where thousands of stars prickled the night sky, a full moon also present, its cool shards of luminescence providing just enough light to navigate by. Popping a food pill into his mouth Kakashi took off into the trees, leaping from branch to branch, the gelid night air rushing past, chilling the tips of his ears. Before long the effects of the food pill wore off, causing the silver flash to come to an abrupt stop.

"Damn it." He cursed, "I must have been further past it then I thought."

Eyes scouting round for a few moments discovered a rather large tree that plateaued out towards its upper branches. With one last burst of speed Kakashi propelled himself up into the canopy and sat down. 'Yes' he concluded, this will do fine.

The tree was an evergreen with fern like leaves, thick and soft to the touch and provided a rather comfortable mattress for one to lie on. Kakashi organized some of the branches around him to act as a shield against the weather and to provide an extra level of stealth. Satisfied he had done a good enough job he cast a small heating jutsu on a stone and lay down, cuddling round the rock. Just before he fell asleep Kakashi realized it was in fact "tomorrow" and now his birthday.

"Well happy birthday Hatake." He said aloud, an owl hooting in the distance. Before closing his eyes again, Kakashi drew his hands around his mouth mimicking a conch and blew a series of puffs into them. A noise imitating the owls call flooded the silence around him, a few seconds later the owl hooted again. Smiling to himself, he relaxed and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

DO BE DO BE DO BE DO BE DO BE DO! - Beep, beep, beep.

The movement was so quick even the Sharingan would have missed it.

DO BE DO BE DO BE DO BE DO BE DO - Beep, beep, beep.

Fingers frantically stabbing and prodding at things.

DO BE DO BE DO BE DO BE - Beep.

Prod, push, poke.

DO BE DO BE DO BE - Beep.

Expletive, hands in hair, look of rage on face.

DO BE DO BE DO BE DO BE DO!

A few less strands of hair attached to head.

DO BE DO Beeeee Doooo beee doo - thunk, thunk.

(A/N - lets do that again)

Iruka woke with a start, the air becoming flustered as his previously peaceful body wrenched through ninety degrees, legs bending at the knees, whilst his back left the warmth of the bed behind. Eyes thrown open, his heart racing as if a bomb had gone off, what in gods name is that awful racket? Its morning went through his mind - as its light outside. I am now awake, in the morning - which is normal, I have children to teach.

'She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes, Yes she will' danced through his head, although the dancer in question felt like it was wearing pins for shoes and was performing energetic pirouettes on particularly raw nerves.

All of this jolted passed in a matter of seconds - 'Alarm clock' he thought reaching for the cursed object. Hands almost having a will of their own as his fingers frantically scoured the smooth surface, pressing and prodding at anything that resembled a button. Nothing had any noticeable affect, the song chirping playfully on.

"BLOODY ALARM CLOCKS!" he yelled as he temporarily lost it, the dissonant device falling into the folds of the bed sheets. Hands removing a few of his silken locks during the momentary lapse in control, as the verse of the song came to completion.

Not yet satisfied its job had been accomplished, the clock decided another verse perfectly fitting.

That did it, the short-lived insanity of yore threatening to become a permanent fixture as a primal growl rumbled though his body. Iruka lost it, doing the only thing any sane person would do. He scooped the jarring device up out of the sheets and flipped it over, in one swift action removing the retainer on the bottom. Then swung it round to his right before inverting it and applying a firm slap with his hand, two batteries landed on the floor and rolled out of sight. The sound stopped, Iruka sighed, and fell with a flomp back onto the bed.

------------------------------------

"What the!" Kakashi said as his body stalled mid stride, rooted at his left foot, the momentum carrying him forwards, forwards and down that is till he was spitting out a mouthful of soil.

"Crrrraaack." sounded the big toe on his left foot as it bent in an unhealthy way.

It was his own silly complacent fault, complacency not uncommon being a genius and certainly not misplaced in an action as simple as running along, but perhaps misguided when coupled with a certain orange book.

If the book had feelings it should have been gloating, not even the most competent shinobi could hand Kakashi a lack in concentration, but paragraph two on page forty-five had done it, just long enough for him to become oblivious to the obstacle now snagging at his injured foot.

"Some birthday this has turned out to be." he groaned whilst relocating the devious pages to a free pocket in his vest.

Damn he felt stupid, what if someone had tried to attack him, or worse still, seen what had happened? In a matter of days he would have gone from 'Sharingan Kakashi, master of 1000 jutsus, genius nin extraordinaire', to 'Sharingan Kakashi, the man who fell face first whilst reading a pornographic novel'. Somehow it didn't seem to have the same kind of ring to it.

Now lying in the middle of what appeared to be a recently ploughed field, strictly more horizontal then he would have liked, (not that Kakashi minded being horizontal, this however was not the time or the place) he contemplated his next move. Running various scenarios through his mind he came up with the only logical choice of action, logical that is if snagging his foot and grinding to a halt, face first, was all a part of the original plan. He also thought it rather clever as it covered someone joining the action after the award-winning tumble, simply finding him lying down. Lying down, in the middle of a recently ploughed field, now with a few birds strutting around, eyeing him up with their side on glances, wondering if he could be considered edible. (Mmm Kakashi Ramen!)

"Hmmm" he exaggerated greatly, the birds becoming slightly flustered, "Looks like it isn't here."

(That was his plan by the way - aren't geniuses creative :D )

Having fooled no one, particularly the birds, he arched his back a little, creating room for his hands and cast a teleportation jutsu. He relocated a few feet ahead, this time vertical, sandals gently sinking into the fluffy soil. Knees bending he lowered his hands down to his feet, flashing through a few seals before touching his now glowing fingers to the damaged area. The jutsu was supposed to repair damage, but hadn't done a very good job, the bones were still frightfully weak, but it had managed to dull a lot of the pain.

Slowly footfalls started again, left right left, testing how much the damaged foot could withstand, after a few minutes of trial and error he settled into a comfortable gate. However not wanting to repeat the meeting with the floor Kakashi kept his eye firmly on the ground ahead.

----------------------------------------------------

Thankfully Konoha was not too far away, the technique used on his foot was wearing off and it hurt, casting the jutsu a second time, he remembered, was not recommended as it could complicate the healing process. Needless to say Kakashi was glad when the town gates finally came into view, the half-hop-half-run he had later adopted was putting high demands on his lower back muscles causing them to ache. Normally this wouldn't have bothered the man but running the way he had yesterday had knocked the wind from his sails a little.

Kakashi immediately headed for the hospital, not wanting to waste anymore time then was absolutely necessary, it was his birthday damn it and he wanted to start celebrating, even if celebrating only meant sitting watching Iruka or rereading an old Icha novel.

Along the way he attracted a few odd looks, Kakashi always managed to get a few of these, usually out of awe or contemplation for figuring him out, but a limping Kakashi seemed to be far more entertaining. One small boy pointing and laughing as his mother smacked his hand away, muttering something about bad manners and correct etiquette, the boy not seeming to pay her any mind at all, still letting out small shakes of laughter.

Almost his saving grace Sakura showed up and helped him along the way, all the while chatting mainly to herself, mentioning something about meeting a rather disgruntled Iruka on her way to Ino - pigs flower shop, wondering if Kakashi had anything to do with it (seriously how much faith did that girl have).

A lighthearted moment later, as Sakura described how Naruto had managed to tie himself and few clones in knots, they arrived at the hospital. The pink haired genin bouncing off down the street, whilst bidding him farewell. As he turned Kakashi couldn't help but notice the rather large queue at the sign in desk, reminding him once more that he should be elsewhere, preferably having fun.

'Would rather be somewhere else' his fingers drummed as he slouched against the wall.

'Rather be somewhere else' he thought as he finally filled in the form at the desk, which seemed to want more personal details then the ANBU had when he first enrolled.

'Somewhere else' internal Kakashi groused as he lowered himself onto a cushion, in the far too busy waiting room.

'Somewhere else' tapped his foot, (his right foot if your interested) as the daylight began to dwindle.

'Somewhe..'

"Hatake" someone finally called out.

Stiffly coming to his feet after having been sat for too long, Kakashi eased his way towards the door the assistant was standing at.

The whole ordeal, from entering the hospital to exiting, had taken just under three hours, why did the med-nin have to be so pedantic? It was only a broken toe, not some hole in the head. Perhaps he just got the wrong doctor, but this one insisted on checking and double-checking to make sure the bone alignment was correct. He had to admit though, the doctor had done a good job, his foot felt almost brand new.

Drifting home, his nose caught on the plethora of wonderful smells now filling the streets, reminding him what time of day it was. The thought of returning home to a nice meal helping to reduce the ugliness, that had so far been his birthday. By the time Kakashi was there the bad mood was almost forgotten, the promise of rapture he could now sense, just behind a door, one simple panel of wood, replacing any trace of what was before.

"Kakashi-san!" Kotetsu sang out.

'Blasted door'

Kakashi turned, slightly peeved, watching as the spiky haired man emerged from the twilight.

"Yo" .. Not too pleased you see.

"This" he panted, holding out a scroll, it looked as if he'd been running. "Hokage-sama said to give you this, its urgent, she sends her apologies but there is no time, you must go now."

He placed the small scroll in Kakashi's hand and disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived.

With a flick of the wrist Kakashi unsealed the scroll and skimmed over it, his brow creasing as he saw what it was about.

"Fantastic! Marvellous, oh hoho, just what I've always wanted." his foul mood returning once again, several more words uttered turning the air distinctly blue.

It was an escort. Likely to last all night. The person in question was a rather nebulous fellow no one knew much about, a bit of a mystery. Apparently he travelled a lot and was always very clandestine about it, always keeping his identity well hidden. They were to meet in around ten minutes at the memorial stone, an odd place but everyone knew where it was. What was more interesting though was the destination, or more importantly lack-there-of, it didn't say. Now Kakashi wasn't a man easily unnerved, what good were jitters when you had a sword in your face? But for a mission to be so ambiguous, this was most certainly not normal and subconsciously it caused all his senses to be on high alert. Finally he checked his weapons pouch and gave himself a once over, finding everything to be satisfactory he grudgingly departed from the door of their apartment.

-------------------------------------------

Drawing closer to the rendezvous point he lowered his speed, covertly jumping from one shadow to another, trying to sense another presence, nothing could be found. Leaping up into the trees and hopping from bough to bough he edged round the area a few times in ever decreasing circles, becoming more cautious each circuit as still, no one could be found. Visibility was poor, the street lighting not extending this far out, his normal eye not much use, he was simply reaching out for a chakra signature. Kakashi felt rather silly about his next move, he was still in Konoha for Gods sake, but he reasoned life hadn't remained with him for this long by taking risks. He carefully inched up his hitai-ate revealing a chaotic swirl of red and black, mind suddenly exposed to large amounts of raw information as the Sharingan began to do its work. Glancing around into the distance he saw what had eluded him before, a dark cloaked and hooded figure, standing shadowy almost invisible in the dying day, next to the memorial stone, relaxed, arms crossed within the folds of his heavy robe. The man obviously had not detected Kakashi himself.

Kakashi could see the man, yes, but he could not for the life of him get any kind of reading, again this was strange, if the person was that skilled in chakra manipulation and concealment he should have noticed Kakashi too, more to the point the Sharingan couldn't see any hint of charka either. Deciding nothing more could be gained from this cloak and dagger approach he closed the final gap between them, still aloft in the trees, landing barely inches in front of the mans face - not even a flicker - perhaps he had sensed him after all. Before Kakashi could right himself the man spoke out.

"Ah Hatake-san, I've been expecting you."

The sound was eerie. His voice seemed to be inherently rich in overtones almost creating the illusion of more then one voice, the fundamental being deep and resonant but also carrying a far lighter timbre with it too. If that wasn't enough the voice also echoed, unnaturally as there was nowhere for the sound to be reflected nearby. Voice manipulation wasn't particularly uncommon, but it usually created a rather unique charka flare around the throat and nasal cavities and as observed earlier on, this man had no discernable chakra.

Kakashi thought back to a book he had once read, it spoke of a very rare syndrome where the victim didn't have any chakra at all. It was a rather dangerous condition to have, most children dying just after childbirth.

During gestation the child is kept alive from the mothers' chakra, after being born the tie to the placenta is removed and therefore so is any chakra the mother can supply. Due to the stressful nature of being pushed out the child is in a very fragile state and needs to "cling on for dear life", normally drawing significantly on its own internal supply to survive.

The difficulty with this condition is when inside the womb; normally mother and child share each others chakra, the mother's being far stronger then the baby's and although unique they are also very similar, this causes the baby's chakra to be mostly undetectable, thus noticing the syndrome can be very hard. After being born the child is usually too stressed to survive any immediate medical treatment and therefore the mortality rate high. However in some circumstances, usually from caesarean section or a very easy and quick natural birth, the baby is left far less traumatized and after immediate intensive care will live, then for the rest of its life be dependant on chakra supplements.

The supplements do not in any way or form resemble natural chakra and are a cocktail of synthetic compounds designed to simulate chakra as closely as possible, thus no chakra system, nor aura, can be detected.

That could explain the man standing in front of him, however people inflicted with this ailment tended to be fairly frail and weak, the person before him did not give off the air of being particularly delicate and certainly seemed to have an unmistakable presence, something powerful, even though the reasons of why and how were still out of reach.

Kakashi arched an eyebrow, pausing for a moment longer, now face to face he could get a better look at the man standing before him, if better was indeed the right word. The mans face was masked, not that it mattered the hood of the dark robe surrounding him did a good enough job, although it was clear he certainly did not want to be identified. The mask in question was similar to the fair used by ANBU, crafted from fine porcelain to the shape of the users head. But where the ANBU masks had the face of a particular animal adorning them, this mask was far more complicated, an intricate pattern of blues and reds twisting its way around the visage, finally coming to completion in the center, tendrils from the surrounding complex meeting in the middle to form a star. It looked as if a lot of care had gone into its creation, but then looks could be deceiving.

Finally admitting he wasn't going to learn an awful lot about this person in the immediate future (unless the information given freely to him) Kakashi formally acknowledged the other mans presence with his usual monosyllabic grunt.

"Yo" he intoned whilst bringing his arm out in a rather feeble attempt at a wave.

And he waited.

And waited some more.

A little perplexed he tried again, people didn't usually ignore him.

"Yo, erm (realizing he had no idea how to address the man), well yes hello, the Hokage assigned me as your escort, but didn't provide an awful lot of information. Where is it I am supposed to take you to?"

This produced a far better result, which technically wasn't hard to achieve, anything would be considered a result comparing it to the last attempt. The man, who had now taken a few steps back, let out a small chuckle and bowed lightly. Kakashi was not impressed; something akin to a giggle directed at him from someone he didn't know? Hmmph.

"Ah yes yes" that freaky voice spoke again. "That is correct, you are going to be escorting me. Our destination is unimportant as is my name, neither of them providing any useful advantage to the success of the mission. All I ask is for you to follow, or perhaps scout ahead from time to time to ensure my safe passage."

That apparently was it, nothing more, nothing less, the man simply turned before anything else could be said and started to walk towards the town's gates, Kakashi raising his eyebrow once more before keeping pace.

After a few minutes silence the exit was reached, Kakashi signaling to the guards on duty that everything was ok. The anonymous guest stopped for a second before turning slightly west and moving off again, at a steady but rather slow speed, certainly not anything remotely close to how a ninja would travel.

Still feeling rather more in the dark then he felt safe with Kakashi decided to put in a little request.

"If possible, I would appreciate it if you could increase your speed, survival rates tend to be a lot higher when moving quickly."

The man stopped and turned to face Kakashi.

"Thank you for your concern Hatake san, but I assure you I am more then capable of looking after myself, besides what's the rush? Its such a beautiful night."

As it turned out the mans safety was the least of Kakashi's concern, anyone walking around with chakra so well concealed would more then likely go completely unnoticed. Even if he happened to belong to an enemy nins hit list, it would be doubtful anyone would manage to find him, unless a tracker such as Pakkun were used. No the mans safety was not what bothered Kakashi, and beautiful night be damned he wanted to get home and the faster this was over, the sooner he would be curled up, blissfully lost, betwixt mattress and one certain Umino Iruka.

As they walked, the dirt path slowly disintegrated, due to lack of human contact, leaving a layer of thick springy grass beneath their feet. The soft thud of boot meets compacted earth replaced by an almost silent phut. A short while later and crisp leaves occupied the ground beneath, producing a rather loud crunch, a lazy wind coaxing the last life from the remaining leaves still left on the trees, gently tugging and eroding their hold before they drifted to join their fallen brethren.

Glancing around Kakashi noticed he had never once set foot where he was now, nor did he remember seeing it on any map. The two of them had been walking for little over an hour meaning they were still inside the outer fringes of what could still be considered Konoha. 'I'll have to brush up a bit and look at some of the newer maps' he thought, confirming he really was "lost" after surveying the area for a second time.

The trees continued to come; growing closer and closer together, almost such that navigating became rather difficult. The close-knit tangle of half naked branches above them, blocking out most of the nightlight. Kakashi was grateful for the Sharingan, which he had started to use, allowing him to actually "see" where he was going. His companion on the other hand seemed completely unperturbed, marching boldly into the undergrowth as if he'd been there a thousand times before, stopping every now and again for no apparent reason.

"Excuse me?" Kakashi questioned the next time the man faltered. "But why do you keep stopping, is everything alright?"

The man turned again to face Kakashi, almost jumping as if he had forgotten the jounin was there.

"Oh I see" that eerie voice said playfully "or, perhaps I don't."

Kakashi could swear the man under the mask was smiling, even if he couldn't see his face.

"I am stopping to make sure we are heading in the correct direction. Although I am almost sure we are, I stop to confirm it, rather then believing myself to be correct and find we have wandered off course. As a matter of fact we are not far away now from our destination, we should be arriving any minute."

"Hmmph" Kakashi replied, before they both moved on.

A moment later and the trees abruptly ended revealing a large open space. The area itself was almost circular and surrounded entirely by trees, the forest hadn't suddenly stopped, rather they had arrived at what appeared to be a large clearing. In the center was a considerable pool of water, perfectly still, shielded against anything that threatened to disturb its surface by the surrounding foliage.

The pool itself was raised up above ground level, a ledge of smooth rock surrounding it, a little like a paddling pool, only the waters depth continued where it would have normally stopped. The encompassing rock was around a foot in height and two feet in width, naturally chamfered to meet the ground, creating a ledge you could easily sit on, at any other time Kakashi thought it would be a rather nice place to visit.

Looking around Kakashi started to wonder if the area was maintained, there were no leaves present on the ground and the grass looked surprisingly well kept. Just as he was about to crouch down for a closer look (the cut grass could have just been the result of an overzealous pair of teeth) there was a sudden flash of light, accompanied by a sharp, piercing crack that left the ears ringing. Before he could seek out the nature of the disturbance Kakashi felt himself torn from the ground and hurled through the air with incredible force, slamming heavily against a great oak, 'It was a trap' was all he could manage to think before his skull collided, willing on the darkness as consciousness left him.

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A/N – the alarm clock stuff is slightly autobiographical, I got myself a musical clock under the impression I might not mind it as much as a standard BRRP BRRP BRRP (not being a morning person) how wrong I was.. For all intents and purposes the starting with Iruka has nothing to do with the story, but was just a silly bit of fun.

It appears my usual scene break noted by asterisks isnt working on ffnet pfft, ill go back and edit the other stories some time later on.

Also I was amazed at the reviews I got having never promoted this anywhere since it was posted on FGnet, when I read them I just grinned, reviews most certainly welcome!


	5. Chapter 5

Apologies for the long time between updates, I had a rather busy summer that left very few free moments that I could write in, let alone even read fics, oh the agony. This part has been almost ready for a couple of days now, but I thought I'd save it for the 15th (well its my 15th still) in honour of Kakashi's actual birthday. My printer is also acting strange which means I wasnt able to read this through and check it how I normally would, so apologies for any errors that crop up. This also keeps getting longer and longer. I really did NOT intend it going on this long, but as its my first try at writing I guess I didn't have any idea about how many words you actually need to say certain things AND I don't feel im saying it all in that much detail either. Pfft. Anyway without further ado.

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Slowly Kakashi started to regain consciousness, his body well attuned to situations like these continuing to feign black out as all he senses gradually returned. The first thing he noticed was the swollen mass now on the back of his head, pressing painfully into the ground beneath. Second he realised nothing had been done to restrict his movement, no bounds in place anywhere, all four limbs working and accounted for. Now that he thought about it, his body was positioned rather considerately; crash landing after smashing into a tree would have left his body in a rather disorganised arrangement. But here he was, flat on his back, arms by his side, legs straight out, slightly parted; save for the bump-on-head pressing into the ground, it was rather comfortable.

Rather comfortable?

What kind of person throws you into a tree only to later then appear concerned for your well being? Either someone undecided in their actions, who at one moment thinks killing the 'enemy' a grand idea, but upon later deliberation, decides it was a mistake. Or someone so powerful that using shackles would just be a bother to them, who enjoys playing with their prey for kicks. Not good, either a basket case or a delusional, would-be Hokage.

A moment later and Kakashi was brought out of his analysis by a presence coming into range, the chakra signature seemed vaguely familiar but was rather ragged, flaring every now and again as if slightly out of control. As quickly as the signature had appeared and it was right over him, touching and feeling, fussing over his body as if checking for signs of damage. Well this was getting downright strange.

Deciding it was about time to meet his assailant, Kakashi instantly opened his eyes.. Eyes? Hold on a minute no hitai-ate covering the Sharingan? Oh well no time to worry about that now.

An instant later and the familiar blue and red mask came into focus. Without giving the man any time to react, Kakashi charged his fists with chakra and powered into him.

"Grahhrrrpph" honked out as contact was made, Kakashi sending him flying in a way similar to he had been before, the man landing on the ground and bouncing twice, instead of smashing into a tree.

Quickly Kakashi closed the distance and was on top of him, effectively pinning his body down and raising his fists up preparing to strike again.

"Kakashi, wait." The man stammered out, sounding rather desperate.

'Chakra!' Kakashi quickly thought, as waves of the other mans pulsed out with each beat of his heart. Before he hadn't had a lot of time to think about it, having chosen to attack, but yes the man now had chakra and was also harbouring a rather obvious flare around his neck. So it seemed as if he was right, voice manipulation was being used.

"Hmm and give me one good reason why should I do that? One minute I'm escorting you through a forest and the next your sending me skyward. What says this isn't some trap, buying time to strike again?"

"What do you mean, don't you even..oh.." he trailed off.

"Oh what?" Kakashi snapped back quickly.

"Erm, well, I know this is asking a lot, but if you release my hands I can show you."

Kakashi weighed up the situation, if he released the other mans hands then he would be free to cast jutsu, or choose to be rather more physical and connect fist with face. Other then that there wasn't an awful lot left the man could do, the two options available giving him no real advantage as the Sharingan would see anything moments before it happened, allowing Kakashi to counter it.

"Okay then," Kakashi said quietly but sternly, "however I'm warning you, if you try to form any seals, or attempt to move faster then is to my liking and you wont know what's hit you."

The other mans arms relaxed a little, as did his body, head turning to the side. Kakashi thought he heard a slight 'hmmph' but he released the others hands anyway. Before long it appeared nothing was going to happen.

"Are you going to do something? Or was your request for me to release your hands simply a comfort issue?"

The man squirmed a little more, and yes this time a small noise was produced, followed by something rather more understandable.

"No hand seals right?" he said rather sheepishly.

Kakashi sighed before replying.

"Did you by any chance actually think this little 'escape plan' of yours through?"

As he was talking the mans head twitched a little, as if trying to turn away, perhaps he thought the ground would open up if he tried hard enough? No such luck.

"I did sort of, but well.. you're.." he trailed off again for the second time in less then two minutes.

Kakashi didn't want to find out what he was, he quite frankly didn't care, and he sighed again. 'Ok then' he thought, 'lets humour the guy, I mean he doesn't seem that threatening, and I can pretty much see the combination of seals before they are even formed.'

"Okay then, I'll allow hand seals, but only slowly and if the combination goes beyond three I will break it."

At this the captive seemed to relax again.

"Arigato Kakashi-san."

Gingerly he moved his hands away from Kakashi's previous grasp against the floor and up to his chest, pausing a little before bringing his fingers into a steeple forming the tiger seal.

"Kai!" he exclaimed and the flare around his throat faded to nothing.

As the flare dissipated Kakashi couldn't help but notice the already spiky chakra of the other man become even more erratic, almost like the protective shell Naruto is sometimes granted by the Kyuubi. However the chakra provided by the nine tails is always immense in proportion but never out of control, the situation the other man was under seemed far more irregular and possibly dangerous, not only that but he had begun to twitch slightly.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi found himself asking almost automatically as the man's legs suddenly jerked upwards.

"Nnn" replied the other almost out of necessity rather then by choice.

Again, rather cautiously, the man brought his hands up, but this time to the hood and mask obscuring his face, two seconds later and the concealment was gone.

"What the!" Kakashi almost yelled as he jumped back.

"Iruka! H..h..how, why? He exclaimed as he helped his now shaking other half to his feet.

"Ok screw that idea, you can explain later, first comes your health, you're shaking quite violently, do you know what's wrong with you?"

Slowly Iruka began to undo the duffle toggles that fastened the garment he was wearing. Progress was agonisingly slow, too long for Kakashi, watching as his precious person struggled to control the shakes, and after the third of ten was successfully parted Kakashi finished the job for him.

After the last one was open Iruka glanced up at him with a forlorn look of helplessness, a nervous grin twitching on his face.

"Thanks." he said as the robe slowly separated, eased away from his shoulders and encouraged towards falling into a crumpled in a heap on the grass.

"Anytime." the other replied with a smile.

Underneath the robe lay a very thin overcoat made out of a close-knit grey silk. It looked relatively old, but in perfect working order, much the same way a priceless antique does. Nothing really hinting towards the articles true age apart from that air some items posses which seem to say 'I'm a few hundred years old' even though they don't look it. Apart from the underlying age of the coat, there was nothing detectably special about it, except that there was a sizeable pocket sewn into the front, which opened laterally across the chest and extended down to the stomach, the coat itself being incredibly long, almost touching the ground.

Having just shaken free of the thick robe, Iruka reached into the pouch and withdrew a piece of parchment, handing it to Kakashi. Said man took the paper and glanced over it, mulling over the calligraphy scattered about the surface.

"It looks similar to the standard issue chakra binding tags, although this one is slightly different in design. I've never seen one quite like this before, it looks quite old, almost as old as that coat you're wearing. More importantly what are you doing with one of these and why do I get the feeling you've been using it?"

Iruka looked rather sheepish again, like the way a child does, on being discovered doing something it shouldn't have.

"That's because I have been using it."

Iruka's gaze falling from his partners' eyes to the ground below, which seemed to have acquired a new level of interest.

"However," He quickly thought, "it's not a standard chakra binding tag, this one simply conceals. Hokage sama explained it to me before I left, these ones are much harder to create and are not recommended for anyone above chuunin rank."

Kakashi's brow furrowed a little in confusion at what he had just heard. Ok Iruka had been using a concealing tag, something he had seldom heard of, let alone seen used, but for what reason?

He ran the details through his head again, only this time parts lined up forming a pattern where before there was just a mess. Chakra concealment, face mask, voice manipulation, Iruka, Birthday, some serene, peaceful, read again, almost romantic area in the woods, well now there wasn't just a pattern forming but a complete picture.

Kakashi sighed then started.

"So, this 'concealment' tag, what's so special about it?"

Iruka looked up from his interesting spot amongst a thousand blades of grass, a childish smirk now fixed across his face. 'Ha!' he thought 'I'm gonna explain something to Genius Sharingan Kakashi about ninja, SCORE!' then his legs threatened to give way under the shaking, now him thinking. 'Lets hurry up and explain this damned thing and perhaps his Genius brain can figure out a way to help me', the grin disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

"Ok," he said, "Normal binding tags work by totally shutting down the enemies chakra system, draining the available power, rendering it useless to the user, just like removing the petrol from a car."

He took a few breaths, before wobbling around a little.

"How's about we sit down eh?" Kakashi suggested, grabbing hold of Iruka's arm, helping him to the ground.

"Thanks." He said offering a warm smile.

"Ok, now where were we? Yes right, I'd just finished binding tags, something I guess you knew about anyway. Well normally humans radiate chakra out from their body as a kind of aura, which is how we can sense the presence of others. Normally a fixed amount of chakra flows out, or bleeds off a person as it is created, just like we lose body heat."

'Yes' Iruka thought, sitting down is much better then standing up.

"A chakra concealment tag is a stealth device that works to appose this loss, creating an undetectable barrier around the user, holding it in. A chakra binding tag is just as effective in concealing ones own chakra, but it leaves you weaker then Tsunade's gambling technique and unable to use any jutsu. The point of a concealment tag, is that it provides the perfect camouflage but also leaves you with all of your power intact."

"However," Kakashi continued, "Just like a body surrounded in too much clothing, it will overheat after a short period of time."

"Yes." Iruka conceded.

"The tags were designed to operate for around six to seven hours on your average genin and two to three on an average chuunin before becoming dangerous. I had been wearing this one for just over an hour, which is strange, Tsunade told me it should last at least double and to make matters worse, when I released the tag there was a huge shockwave that sent you flying."

"So that's what that was, must have been a build up of chakra, like magma in an active volcano, seems like you're more powerful then the old girl gave you credit for hmm?" Kakashi half leered, Iruka's cheeks growing slightly hot at the sudden praise.

"Yeah, well fat lot of use it did me now, ruined everything, stupid ninja contraptions." he replied whilst pulling off the overcoat, throwing it on the floor.

Kakashi half gaped.

Iruka looked up wondering why there was suddenly a vast silence.

"Bloody chakra tags, stupid coats, now everything's been messed up." He half exploded. "And look at me, I'm shaking like Naruto after Sakura gave him those soldier pills."

Kakashi reached out a hand a clasped his lovers in his own, pulling them together and

looking deep into his eyes.

"Listen whatever you had planned can't have gone that badly as nothing has happened, sure you gave me a mild concussion, hardly in spirit with things, but hey I'll live. And whatever you had arranged for that outfit is certainly working quite flawlessly if I may say so myself."

Iruka blushed again.

"But more importantly lets sort out what's wrong with you, and then we can finish off what you originally had in mind, something tells me there is still a lot more to come."

Now Iruka smiled.

"Why do you have to analyse everything, and be right all the goddamned time, useless genius. Anyway, how do you think we can solve me?"

"Simple." Said Kakashi reassuringly, gently parting them, bringing them both to their feet. Iruka looking at him expectantly, urging him to continue, to which Kakashi

obliged.

"I want you to cast a jutsu, anything, but make it rather big. Preferably something safe like kage bunshin, rather then a destructive spell such as Chidori."

Iruka thought this over for a moment, deciding what to do.

"Hmm, okay then, I'll make some clones."

Kakashi stepped back, giving his partner some space to work with, watching him, wide eyed, as the hand seals began to form. A few seconds later and around twenty Iruka's stood there, all looking rather bemused. Now, thought Kakashi, that is one effective outfit. This time it was his cheeks glowing red as the average temperature under the moonlight was raised by several degrees.

Iruka's outfit was mesmerising, Kakashi didn't know where to look first, and of course it didn't help there were a score of clones also adding to the situation. Iruka was wearing a standard pair of pants and shirt but crafted out of a material dreams were made of, deep blue with a touch of purple, golden and silver patterns dancing over the surface, it looked like something an Egyptian prince would wear. The whole getup seemed tailored specifically to enhance Iruka's body, clutching to all the right places, and curving round all the others. Adding to that was how delicate the material was, almost as thin as tissue paper, the moonlight passing straight through it, leaving a silhouette behind of what was underneath. It left very little to the imagination, but just enough that you wanted to see significantly more.

"Wow!" Iruka exclaimed, "I've never made that many before."

'Wow indeed.' Kakashi ushered under his breath.

Slowly he closed the gap between himself and the field of Iruka's, keeping his attention fixed on the real one.

"What else do you notice?"

"Oh I see, i'm not shaking anymore, or at least it's not as bad as it was before, but I am still twitching every now and again."

This self-realisation pleased Iruka no end, and he began to relax a little, something Kakashi obviously noticed, causing a similar reaction in him too. If that hadn't worked then he would have been rather clueless, not a situation he found comfortable.

"The aura surrounding you has diminished significantly and has stopped pulsing erratically. Now its more of a simmer, whereas before you were more like a thunderstorm at sea." Kakashi chimed in giving his outside opinion.

"Yes I can feel it, every time I flared up I lost control, which caused a violent shake, that's passed, but I'm still fighting to remain still. You think a few more clones would help?"

'A few more clones' Kakashi thought, somewhere between reality and cloud nine. Yes a few more clones would be nice.

"Sure, go for it."

A moment or two later and there were five more shimmering, semi transparent Iruka's standing there.

"Ah, that's hit the spot." Kakashi thought out loud.

"Yes you're right (Iruka totally oblivious), I feel almost back to normal now, actually I feel a little drained, I think I will dismiss the clones."

All at once there was a sudden pop, as twenty-five clones vanished.

"Phew, that's better, I think I over did it slightly there."

"Awww," Kakashi whined, "I kinda liked having all of you around."

"Well, I'm awfully sorry," Iruka replied jovially, "but one of me is going to have to do." He paused slightly before continuing, his tone of voice changing ever so slightly hinting strongly towards the obvious "At least most of the time, anyway."

Kakashi laughed a little.

"Is that so hmm?"

"Well, you will have to wait and see Hatake san."

All the worry finally over and Iruka was coming back to his senses, finally noticing Kakashi's ongoing reaction to his attire, reacting in much the same way that he had the day Iruka caught him spying at the swimming pool.

Orange book in hand, practically covering up his entire face, looking as if the words on the page held within them some of life's great mysteries. No Kakashi wasn't in the water, but merely spectating, he had come to the pool alone and was sitting there with his book. Only every now and again, like when Iruka got out of the water and walked to the diving board, did that orange book start to dip lower and lower and lower, almost falling to his knees.

At this time the two were not involved, merely enjoying the eye candy, whilst wishing they could actually taste the delicacy rather then just window shop.

Either way Iruka noticed when the object of his desires entered the facilities and sat down, book in hand. It also didn't escape him (as he kept glancing at Kakashi about three times every second, no he was not obsessed) that his book would start to fall when he lost concentration, oddly connected to when he got out of the water, baring flesh.

Well not one to be a stick in the mud Iruka took full advantage of the situation and wiggled his arse rather provocatively as he walked, it was subtle and would have gone unnoticed unless you were looking, Kakashi almost dropped the book. Iruka was pleased to see that his outfit today was having a similar effect on Kakashi as his wiggling had done that day. Perhaps he should try wiggling some now he thought, and see what would happen this time, Iruka chuckled, maybe later.

"Now," Iruka said, grabbing his boy friends hand with his own, entwining their fingers.

"I believe someone has a birthday today."


End file.
